Business/Economy

I disciplined an employee for talking politics in the office. It backfired big-time.

Q: Most of my employees are political junkies. Several of them swear by different Democratic candidates; a couple of the others are devoted Donald Trump fans. I’ve been pretty lenient with letting employees talk some politics during the work day, because it seems to make the work day go by quickly and they manage to get their work done.

“Greg” is my only problem. He’s a CNN and New York Times news junkie. He lets himself get distracted by breaking news emails from both websites and takes it upon himself to pass what he hears along so others can stay “up to speed.”

Last Friday, I told Greg he had to put his cell away and not access breaking news stories on work time. He surprised me by raising the issue at Monday morning’s staff meeting. He said, “I’d just like everyone to know I won’t be passing on news bulletins anymore. I’m been embargoed.”

Greg had obviously talked to a couple of his work friends over the weekend. They immediately spoke up, saying they would miss Greg’s updates and now subscribed to The New York Times site themselves. I felt that they were throwing my discipline of Greg in my face and I reacted. I said some things I shouldn’t have. From the looks on everyone’s faces, it’s clear my employees think I was heavy-handed with Greg, when actually I’ve been flexible with everyone.

I feel backed into a corner. Do I let others do what I won’t let Greg do? Do I stop the political discussions for everyone? This isn’t my first run-in with Greg. He excels as rallying his friends to his side when he gets disciplined.

A: Greg ambushed you. He painted you as unreasonable and you handed him extra paint. When ambushed, managers have two choices: return fire or retreat and quickly regroup. You returned fire. Managers who do so risk stepping on two landmines, both of which you hit.

Land mine #1: Exercise caution when taking something from employees that they value without them understanding why. From at least some of your employees’ viewpoints, you made a big deal over what they enjoy and view as only taking a minute or two of time.

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Landmine #2: Don’t open your mouth until you’ve had time to decide what you will and won’t allow employees to do and can clearly explain your standards.

Next, you’re only in a corner if you choose. If your employees generally get their work done, establish reasonable boundaries around their interactive news briefings. For example, you can tell the individuals who’ve registered for the websites that if they don’t let the breaking news emails create distraction-related mistakes and if they and others manage to get their work done without excessive time being spent on non-work discussions, you’ll allow it.

Be prepared to define excessive. From an employee viewpoint the time spent receiving breaking news bulletins is negligible and the time it takes to pass information on takes only a moment or two. What might have tipped you over edge with Greg was his making distraction-related mistakes and then spending an excessive amount of time going from employee to employee. Many employers allow their employees 15 to 20 minutes of daily non-work chat. For a $20-an-hour employee, that’s an employer-borne cost of approximately $1,300 to $1,700 per year. A half hour of time, however, costs nearly $2,600.

Let your employees know that if they keep their chat to a minimum you’re OK with it. When you tell them this, don’t fall into the trap of discussing Greg’s behavior with others as discussing one employee with another backfires. Simply explain you’ll allow flexibility as long as those involved handle it well.

Next, meet with Greg a second time. Discuss with him the distraction-related mistakes that caused you concern. Then, hand him a calculator and ask him to punch in his hourly salary. Ask him to multiply that dollar amount by .5 for half an hour, by five for five days a week, by 4.3 for 4.3 weeks a month and by 12 for 12 months a year. If he earns $20 an hour, and you multiply that total by two, to equal his time and that of the employees he talked with, the cost to your company was more than $5,000 a year.

Ask him if he understands. If he says he does, let him know you intend to take extra time with him any time you discipline him, because you want to make sure he fully understands why he merited discipline. If, in coming days, you realize he’s going from employee to employee “rallying” the troops, ask your HR representative to get involved, as Greg may be an employee you need to bless out the door.

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Lynne Curry | Alaska Workplace

Lynne Curry writes a weekly column on workplace issues. She is author of “Navigating Conflict,” “Managing for Accountability,” “Beating the Workplace Bully" and “Solutions,” and workplacecoachblog.com. Submit questions at workplacecoachblog.com/ask-a-coach/ or follow her on workplacecoachblog.com, lynnecurryauthor.com or @lynnecurry10 on X/Twitter.

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